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Top-5: Artturi Lehkonen taken to hospital after a nasty fall

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Top-5: Artturi Lehkonen taken to hospital after a nasty fall
There was plenty of action in the NHL last night, as no fewer than 11 games were on the card on this Thursday evening.

Without further ado, here’s what caught the eye across the league last night:

1. Artturi Lehkonen taken to hospital after horrific fall

Last night, the Avalanche (8-4-0) were at home to face the Kraken (5-6-3). But in the end, it wasn’t necessarily the score that caught the eye, but an injury that really, really scared.

Artturi Lehkonen was playing forward in an attempt to regain possession of the puck, when Jamie Oleksiak body-checked him, causing him to lose his balance.

The result? He went head-first into the boards, a collision that wasn’t necessarily pleasant to watch.

The good news, however, is that the Finn seems to have avoided the worst. He was taken to hospital as a precautionary measure, of course, but the Avalanche confirmed that Lehky was still alert and responsive, and said he had movement in all extremities.

We know that neck and head injuries can cause major damage, but at least the early prognosis is reassuring.

On the ice, it was a good game between the two clubs, with the score at 3-3 in the dying moments of the third period. But the game didn’t need overtime, as Oliver Bjorkstrand gave the Kraken the win with 30 seconds left in the game.

The Kraken won 4-3. We’ll be keeping an eye on Lehkonen’s health over the coming hours and days.

Jonathan Drouin was left out of the game.

2. Connor Bedard makes a spectacle of himself in front of his mother

Since the Blackhawks (5-7-0) are in Florida until Sunday, the club took the opportunity to hold a classic “mothers’ trip”, as the mothers of the team’s players made the trip to see their sons play. Last night, it was a stopover in Tampa Bay that awaited the club, as the Lightning (6-4-4) were the opponent of the day.

Corey Perry’s mother was there, by the way, and she was truly touched to see the Lightning celebrate her son’s time in Tampa Bay.

And among the moms in attendance was Connor Bedard. The 18-year-old prodigy didn’t want to make her wait too long before she had a reason to celebrate: he scored a goal in the opening minutes of the match.

Clearly a beautiful moment.

Bedard continued to steal the show in the first period. The young man, who had never amassed more than one point in a single game since the start of the season, quickly added an assist. Then, at the end of the period, he added a second goal to his record.

Three points in one period: he’s not a bad kid.

Bedard added a fourth point to his record with a second assist, this time in the second period.

Not surprisingly, he earned the Player of the Game award in the Blackhawks dressing room. The other good news was that Taylor Hall, who appeared to have suffered a serious leg injury during the game, looked good in the dressing room.

It’s also worth noting that Kevin Korchinski scored his first career NHL goal.

Clearly, he was waiting to do it with his mother in the stands.

In the end, the Blackhawks won by a score of 5-3.

Special mention also to Nick Foligno, who collected three points.

3. Oilers lose to… the Sharks

Just about everything has been said about the Oilers’ (2-9-1) start to the season. The team is playing uninspiring hockey, the goaltending is awful and not even Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are capable of pulling the club out of its slump.

Jack Campbell in particular paid the price by being balloted for a move to the AHL… but let’s just say that in his first start in Bakersfield last night, it wasn’t easy for him. In the end, he gave up four goals on his first 17 shots.

The Oilers had a golden opportunity to start afresh last night against the only team doing worse than them this season: a duel against the horrendous Sharks (2-10-1) .

The problem is, even one of the worst teams in history seems too much of a challenge for the Oilers at the moment. The Sharks prevailed 3-2, with Filip Zadina’s goal being the winning net.

You can almost certainly already forget the scenario of seeing the Oilers in the playoffs, say.

After the game, Jay Woodcroft seemed aware that it’s only a matter of time before he’s fired. But clearly, this defeat has really put the Oilers over the edge.

I really wonder what’s in store for the Oilers in the next few days and, who knows, maybe even in the next few hours…

4. Alexis Lafrenière and Louis Domingue shine for the Rangers

Alexis Lafrenière’s early career in the Big Apple hasn’t exactly been a fairytale so far. The winger is struggling to get to the next level, and while expectations are rising, his performance continues to stagnate.

But as his Rangers (10-2-1) took on the Wild (5-6-2) last night, Laffy finally showed the full extent of his potential. The Quebecer, who had picked up an assist in each of his last two games, put on a show last night with no less than three points. It was the first time in his career that he had scored three points in a single game.

He joined forces with Artemi Panarin on this sequence, which allowed him to find the back of the net.

That said, Lafrenière wasn’t the only Quebecer to shine in a Rangers uniform last night: Louis Domingue, who hadn’t played in the NHL since the 2022 playoffs (when his meals of spicy pork and broccoli stole the show), made a return to the NHL last night.

The result? 25 saves on 26 shots and a richly deserved victory for the Saint-Hyacinthe native.

Before the game, in fact, he had a chat with Marc-André Fleury, and the two Quebec goalkeepers wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to have a French-speaking duel to put on a good show. And clearly, Domingue got the message.

The Rangers eventually prevailed by a score of 4-1.

In addition to Lafrenière, Vincent Trocheck also collected three points for the Rangers.

5. Hat-tricks for Charlie Coyle and Kyle Connor

A big night in the NHL almost certainly means hat-tricks, and last night saw two of them across the Bettman circuit.

First, Charlie Coyle helped his Bruins (11-1-1) continue their excellent start to the season by scoring three goals in a 5-2 win over the Islanders (5-4-3).

It was Coyle’s first career hat trick.

Then, a little later in the evening, the Jets (7-4-2) saw Kyle Connor do the same in their duel against the Predators (5-8-0).

Connor, who scored five goals in his last two games, helped his club to a 6-3 victory.

Coyle and Connor both added an assist to their record, so both guys finished their night’s work with four points each.

Not bad, eh?


Overtime

– The Canadiens won in overtime last night. For the game recap, it’s HERE.

– Bryan Rust was denied a game-winning goal in overtime last night, then scored a second (which was good, this time) and spoiled himself with the celebration. I love it.

– Weird moment last night.

– The Blues’ power play continues to be absolutely pathetic.

– J.T. Miller is on fire.

– Beautiful goal from Kirill Marchenko against the Stars

– The evening’s results.

– Mike Matheson and Nick Suzuki among yesterday’s top scorers.

(Credit: Screenshot/NHL.com)

– Six games on the schedule today.

(Credit: Screenshot/Google)

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